On a street running along the Gaza City waterfront, three young men --- one armed --- were celebrating. They waved at a man driving by blowing his horn. Above their heads a loudspeaker on a mosque repeated over and over: Allahu Akbar.

Part of the celebration is relief that, hopefully, the eight days and nights of bombing and shelling are now at an end and people can sleep safely. Or sleep at all.

But there is also a mood of victory.

"Israel begged for a ceasefire because it could not stop our rockets," said Adel Mansour, who was without a gun. "They bombed us, they killed our women and children, but they could not stop the resistance. So they had to surrender and agree to stop the assassinations. They learned we cannot be defeated by their bombs."